Elika Real Estate

Loved working with Elika for my condo purchase! Elika is a small boutique buyers-​only firm. It made such a difference in my experience buying my first home. With Elika I felt that the whole team there were really invested in my specific situation, and in my corner throughout the experience. That was quite a difference from how I felt when I dealt with the big real estate firms in NYC (you know who they are), where I felt like a cog in the wheel, and that the agents there are sometimes playing all angles. The Elika team protects their clients and their integrity like you would expect from a small business.
My agent was Jillian — she is amazing! Jillian is experienced, professional, and intuitive about what I would like in a property. I never felt rushed, despite my lengthy search, and she kept me going through the inevitable hiccups everyone encounters when buying in NYC. She made me feel confident through the purchase, and made it fun. Thanks Elika and Jillian!

Elika represented me as Buyer’s Broker during the purchase of my first apartment in nyc. He is very knowledgable on the market and was extremely pleasant to deal with. He made the entire process go very smoothly and painlessly, explaining everything behind the scenes along the way. From introduction, viewing multiple apartments, introduction to an attorney for representation, price negotiation, putting together/​signing the contract, interviews with the Co-​op board, all the way through the closing, Gea was there every step of the way. He always had my best interests close at hand, was always very accessibly and responsive, and am incredibly pleased with the apartment I now live in. I would recommend his services to acquaintances and friends alike.

I had a great experience working with Elika Real Estate. Gea is a highly skilled professional who helped me through the property buying process from start to finish. As a foreign buyer I had additional issues to work out and Gea was very helpful and generous with his time. Whether a native New Yorker or foreign buyer I’m sure you’ll get top notch advice. I couldn’t be happier.

Gea is even better than what we could ever imagine. We found him through NAEBA. Very nice guy. He doesn’t require any upfront commitment, which is a huge risk for him, AND he was not pushing any deal. Gea is very professional in dealing with all kinds of people. But what we value the most, is his honesty. He is not just trying to say something that we want to hear, but what he thinks is right, based on his experience. Over the three months, we’ve gone through tons of different apartments. Even though he’s very busy, he was always there. He also patiently and promptly answered all of our questions. During the negotiating process, he was very professional. For the first apartment we bid for, we walked away because Gea told us that the price the seller asked for was ridiculous. Finally, we found our dream home, with Gea’s help. I don’t know what else you could expect from a broker.

An excellent choice if you are looking to purchase a home in NY. Very professional and experienced. I followed their advice and it paid off

As a first time buyer someone should hold your hand and that’s what I thought I was getting by having a buyer broker, however, I would have been fine on my own.
I am a Native New Yorker and was a first time buyer looking to purchase in Brooklyn or Queens, I had very specific parameters for actually making the purchase. I submitted these to the team at Elika and every time I would get back suggestions to look at places out of my price range, with too high a down payment, with too high a coop management fee, etc. I ended up finding places on my own and visiting 85% of them by myself, never with my buyer broker. It was a miserable experience that took 6 months. The brokers have little to no experience dealing with purchases in Queens therefore if you want to buy in Queens do not select Elika.
As I was a first time buyer, as I had no contacts, I used the suggested support teams from Elika including my Lawyer and my Mortgage bank. I was taken advantage of by both, I later discovered two on-​going issues that should have been found in the board minutes and through the inspection. The Elika agent, came to my final walk through and found so many issues that could have been identified even before signing the contract. She acted as if it was my fault that my inspection didn’t uncover these problems. I did have a complaint against the inspector, however, had she taken the time to actually inspect the unit with me before I signed my contract I would have known to include those issues in my rider.
If you need a recommendation for a lawyer go through friends (not anyone recommended by Elika), had I gone that route, I may have been happier. The recommended Mortgage agency immediately sold my loan and refused to give me credits they had promised, making it up by sending me a $ 400 check after the closing. I didn’t get my list of final costs until 11 AM the day of my closing, when I was closing at 1PM. That was unacceptable and again something that my Agent didn’t even bother pushing for. I felt completely abandoned in this purchase. I am happy where I am now (I found the apartment, came up with the offer on my own), but I know that overpaid considering all of the work that I’ve had to do.
I finally had to get a lawyer for another issue that came up after the purchase (I also hate my management company they have gotten so many bad reviews, another item that could have been known before closing). If you need a recommendation, I’m using Ross Levine at Schwartz, Levine & Kaplan, PLLC. He’s more expensive than the lawyer recommended by Elika, but you get what you pay for, and I’m still paying for it.

I just closed on a condo on the UWS. It was a tricky closing due to a difficult board but with Elika I always felt as though I was 100% looked after. They know the market and making buying in NYC as easy as possible. Highly recommend their services.

We contacted Gea Elika after 3 months of conducting our own search in Manhattan through Street Easy and going to Open Houses on weekends. We were originally thinking that by going to Open Houses, we would eventually meet an agent whose style matched ours and whose knowledge of the market was suited for what we were looking for. Finding the right agent in New York City turned out to be a tougher task. Buying your home any time anywhere is one of the biggest decisions you make, but it becomes that much bigger in NYC where you’re making a sizable investment especially in a hot market. Getting the right advice over saving a few thousand dollars or shaving a few months to rush into a decision was very important to us. The process for us was much more about working with an agent who was patient and consultative to help us through our own thinking about this decision. We didn’t know this going into it (as much as we thought we did) and that was one of the most invaluable parts of working with Gea and his approach.
After getting a bit of experience going through Manhattan open houses and interacting with several agents, I decided to search for buyers’ agents and found Gea. Since he didn’t require us to lock into any agreement with him right away, we saw it as low risk to work with Gea for a few weeks to see if he was the right fit. Gea worked with us through our initial set of requirements and spent the time to listen and help refine our search. One advice I would offer to any home buyer, especially in NYC, is to stay engaged in the process and regularly offer feedback to your agent (assuming you have one that listens well!)
Our search once we started working with Gea took 6 months before we entered into contract. We started out looking in lower Manhattan but ended up buying a brownstone in Brooklyn. The inventory was low so any properties we were interested in often had multiple offers from the first open house. We put in 3 serious offers (in both Manhattan and Brooklyn) that we lost out on to higher or all cash offers. We had numerous places that we considered putting offers in on but the savvy advice of Gea, backed by his experience as well as facts and data he would research and provide us, helped us avoid the wrong investments or places that ultimately wouldn’t meet our wants and needs. This was really important and helped further establish our trust in Gea. He wasn’t in it to make a quick commission which became apparent when he advised against certain offers. Gea’s circle of recommended references from mortgage brokers to home inspectors was another invaluable part of the experience of working with him that helped us put together the right team.
I’m happy to say that we’ve been living in our new home for a month and a half. We are happy with our decision and couldn’t have done this in a very hot market without Gea. In summary he top reasons we recommend Gea are:
— he invested the time to look at properties with us and listened to our feedback
— he invested the time in researching the right price when we put in offers
— he advised against the wrong investments based on his experience and knowledge of NYC real estate
— he never pushed a property for a higher price or a higher offer just to close
Gea earned our trust and future references.

I used Elika Associates to purchase a coop at 140W 69^th Street back in November 2012 and used Ben as an agent. I am very unhappy, because I was told an inspection was not necessary. After the closing I found many electrical problems. I attempted to rectify the issues on my own, but eventually Iwas caught, and now am in the process of an Eviction/​Holdover preceding…